Developed by Central Medical Supplies (CMS), Swabsafe™ is a modern system for swab disposal. The Swabsafe™ swab management system is designed to aid accurate swab counting and make swab weighing easier, for blood loss calculation. It also helps eliminate the risk posed to operating theatre staff by the unnecessary handling of contaminated swabs.

Commenting on using Swabsafe™, Khader Abu-Khalil, Theatre Coordinator at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, says: “We started using Swabsafe™ to confirm the count of used swabs in a cleaner, safer way. We started with a trial for four weeks, which was fully supported by our Account Manager, and we are now using Swabsafe™ in all fourteen of our theatres.”

Swabsafe™ containers come in three sizes – small, medium and large – and each is divided into five sections. A scrub practitioner can directly discard each dirty swab into an individual section of the Swabsafe™ container. Once all five sections are used, a swab-tie is placed into the container and the fully-fitted lid is then secured. When the lid is applied securely to a full container, it traps air borne bacteria and eliminates evaporation from the swabs. Mobile stands are also available, along with compatible electronic weighing scales.

The transparent design of the Swabsafe™ container allows clinicians to visually keep track of all the consumables used during an operation, while at the same time minimising the re-handling of healthcare waste.

Environmentally friendly, Swabsafe™ is produced entirely from recycled post-consumer plastic (rPET). In an independent audit, its current production was deemed to be as sustainable as it can potentially be. The audit was carried out as part of an AMCASH project, which is a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) initiative.